Across the Stars
by Maelaeran
Summary: Two people with power unlike anyone has ever seen before are about to make their mark upon the world of Remnant. Join Elyana on her adventures through Beacon and the rest of the RWBY crew! Rated M just to be on the safe side.


**Hello and welcome to my new fic! For those of you who are reading my other fic (Magic Effect), I will say that I'm still working on that series. It's just that my muse is being awfully fickle and wanted to work on something related to RWBY.**

 **Here's my take on the franchise and I hope that some people will get a good kick out of it. Anyway, that's all I have to say. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter 1 – A Mysterious Girl**

Glynda Goodwitch sat in her office looking over two prospective student applications with a tight frown on her face. Both were problematic in their own ways and both were being inducted into the school at a young age because Ozpin supposedly saw something in them. She glanced to either side of her desk where different folders containing different records of the girls lay, all awaiting approval by her hand.

Ozpin had told her to just sign and stamp the applications, but Glynda was adamant in being thorough about background checks on each of them. She pulled open the first dossier which had a photo of a girl with short, dark-red hair in the light-blue uniform of Signal Academy.

 _ **Name:**_ _Ruby Rose_

 _ **Race:**_ _Human_

 _ **Age:**_ _15 (DOB: June. 1/2234)_

 _ **Sex:**_ _Female_

 _ **Relatives:**_

Taiyang Xiao Long (Father)

Summer Rose (Mother, Deceased)

Yang Xiao Long (Paternal half-sister)

Qrow Branwen (Uncle)

She smiled sadly when reading Summer's name. Glynda had only met the woman once, but she knew what a kind soul she was. Taiyang she only knew by reputation from her friends in Signal Academy, who had told her great things about the man; praising both his teaching skills and his abilities as a hunter. Glynda's eye twitched in annoyance as she read the last name for Ruby's relatives.

 _Of course, he's her uncle._

Qrow rarely talked about his own family when they had their private meetings with Ozpin and the rest of the Guardians and Glynda felt it would be too rude to look into his background without asking for permission. Though she often wondered why with Taiyang's own skills why he had never been brought into the fold of their clandestine meetings.

A question for another time, she supposed. She shook her head and continued reading.

 _ **Place of birth:**_ _Patch_

 _ **Nationality:**_ _Citizen of Vale_

 _ **Previous Schooling:**_ _Signal Academy (2_ _nd_ _year student)_

 _ **Accolades/Achievements:**_

 _Top-ranking combat student of 2_ _nd_ _year_

 _ **Note:**_ _During her mid-semester test, where students are sent to destroy a certain amount of Grimm, Ms. Rose was ambushed by a large contingent of beowulves that would normally have required the skills of a Signal near-graduate to and summarily dispatched them in under three minutes._

 _Fourth-ranking student overall in bi-annual tournaments conducted between Vale's three Primary Combat Academies._

 _Level 3 Scythe Mastery (As verified by Professors Qrow Branwen and Ember Smoke)_

 _2_ _nd_ _place winner of intra-school tournament: Signal Snipers_

 _ **Semblance:**_ _Mach Speed_

 _Able to be used only in short bursts_

 _Maximum speed currently tops out at 307.354 m/s._

 _ **Weapon:**_ _Crescent Rose - Large red scythe able to shift into a high-impact sniper rifle._

 _Created at Signal Academy using approved parts with the personal assistance of Professor Branwen_

Glynda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had a feeling that there were more than a few illegal parts that went into Ruby's weapon, but she supposed she could let that slide. Qrow was nothing, if not an experienced hunter and she respected the man's skills (if not the man himself) that he would not put a young huntress-in-training, much less his own niece, into danger with a weapon she could not handle.

With that thought, she brought up her scroll and watched the video of Ruby's fight with the thugs who had robbed the dust shop. The young girl made excellent use of her semblance and her control over her scythe was certainly remarkable for her age. Based on her skills alone, Glynda certainly thought the girl deserved a place at Beacon.

Her maturity level, however...

 _ **Personality:**_

 _Ruby Rose is a diligent, hard-working girl that is adamant in her goals to become a successful huntress. Her enthusiasm for weapons is such to the point that she is accurately able to judge how most weapons function are made purely based on sight alone. She is able to work in a group and demonstrates small hints of leadership quality, though this is usually overshadowed by more forceful and dominant personalities._

 _Ms. Rose's enthusiasm tends to push others of her age group away from her and as such she only maintains a very close circle of friends. While she is not reckless, she tends to place a certain degree of overconfidence in her abilities, which coupled together with an innate desire to prove herself, has more than once led to injuries._

 _It is my belief, however, that her continued studies at Signal Academy will allow Ms. Rose's full potential to bloom. As she is only in the second year of her studies, I am confident that she will attain the proper mind-set for higher education by the time her courses have finished._

 _-Mogar Crimson_

 _Headmaster of Signal Academy_

For the headmaster of her academy to write a report about the girl spoke volumes. However the report itself was equally concerning; something which she had practically shoved in Ozpin's face.

The damned man simply sipped the coffee he was always drinking, smiled and told her that everything would be fine.

 _"_ _Do you trust me?" a younger Ozpin flashed in her mind. His hair, only showing slight signs of greying and blood that ran down his forehead._

 _He reached out a hand to a young girl who had lost everything she had ever cared about. His brown eyes stared into her green ones and the girl knew her answer already as she placed her small hand into his outstretched hand._

 _"_ _Yes." replied Glynda._

"Sigh...damn that man..." grumbled Glynda. She read through the rest of Ruby's documentation, inputting what she needed to into the system and double-checking that the girl really was as good as she was supposed to be.

It was all there however: awards, letters of recommendation and the girl's full transcript. She frowned as she saw that the girl's scores in history were a little lacking in comparison to the exemplary grades for her other subjects.

 _That can be improved easily enough, though, I suppose..._

Finally, Glynda set aside Ruby's report and stared balefully at the solitary document that stood apart from the rest like a black sheep. Inside of the unassuming brown folder were two slips of paper. Glynda and Ozpin both knew that the information contained on this paper was _heavily_ modified and many parts of it were outright lies.

She did not like falsifying documentation like this, but she understood the need for secrecy better than most people. God only knew the amount of chaos that would spread if information about this girl spread, let alone about the Four Maidens.

 _Of course, that kind of chaos is something that_ bitch _would love though, wouldn't she?_ Glynda shuddered at the thought of that awful _thing_ , doing who knows what in the darker parts of the world.

Her eyes softened when she stared at the photo marking the head of the dossier. It was an incredibly beautiful young girl with flowing locks of brown hair that extended down her shoulders on both sides. She had green eyes that were a shade brighter than Glynda's own with slightly tanned skin. The most prominent feature of the girl were the elongated and tapered elfin-ears sticking out at right angles from her hair; giving an almost ethereal quality to the girl.

 _ **Name:**_ _Elyana Neverwinter_

 _ **Race:**_ _Faunus_

 _Actually she's a half-elf from another world._

 _ **Age:**_ _17_

 _ **Sex:**_ _Female_

 _ **Relatives:**_ _Maelaeran Neverwinter (Adoptive father)_

 _Well at least the 'Adoptive Father' part is true._ Glynda snorted to herself. Good thing he doesn't have the typical appearance of members of his kind. A faint blush came to her cheeks as she recalled the incredibly gorgeous appearance of the man and how he appeared while he was effortlessly slaughtering a Drago that had nearly killed her.

 _It was easy to see just how much of a true father he was to Elyana, based purely on how much the girl seemed to adore him._

His personality was another issue however and was the main reason why Ozpin and her ensured that he never meet up with Qrow. The two had such similar personalities, that there's no telling what kind of mischief they would get up to together.

 _It doesn't help either that the damn man is such a shameless flirt...with all his stupid pick-up lines and his damn perfect smile with those perfectly shaped-_

"What am I thinking?!" shouted Glynda, blushing hard at her outburst and incredibly thankful that no one in the room was there to see her. She slapped her cheeks hard and focused her gaze back onto the dossier trying to rid any thoughts of incredibly sexy -

 _YES! BACK TO WORK! STOP THINKING ABOUT IT, GLYNDA!_

 _ **Place of birth:**_ _Jorrvask_

The official story that they were running with was that Jorrvask was a small village of Faunus who had unique Semblances just off the coast of Vacuo. They had luckily found an area relatively devoid of Grimm until one day, seven years ago, the village had been destroyed from a large horde of goliaths and nevermore.

 _ **Nationality:**_ _Dual citizenship of Vacuo and Vale_

 _ **Previous Schooling:**_ _Shield Academy_

 _ **Accolades/Achievements:**_

 _Top-ranking student (both combat and studies) for all four years_

 _1_ _st_ _place winner four years running for bi-annual tournament conducted between Vale's three Primary Combat Academies._

These achievements were impressive enough on their own, but what wasn't written down was that the girl had already gone on numerous missions with her adoptive father already in exterminating Grimm. Not to mention, if what Mael had told her and Ozpin was true, the girl had already been fighting for her life before she had been taken in by her father.

 _ **Semblance:**_ _All-Rounder_

 _Boosts strength, speed and endurance by a large amount_

 _Heightened affinity with Water Dust_

 _ **Weapon:**_ _Dark Duelists (Customized pistol/dagger combo)_

 _ **Personality:**_

 _Ms. Neverwinter is a quiet and earnest individual, who is incredibly hard-working in her studies. Because of her unique appearance and reserved nature, however, she has difficulty working in a group and forming close relationships with others, whether they are humans or fellow Faunus. While Huntresses do not need to work together in order to perform their job, only the ones who are able to do so are able to become truly exemplary._

 _However, Ms. Neverwinter's abilities seem to prove even this old adage wrong, as both her abilities (natural and acquired) put her far beyond those of her peers. She possesses a strong desire for justice (and capable of inspiring such a noble virtue in others as evidenced by her friends) and is often seen helping the local law enforcement whenever possible. As long as she continues to apply herself, I believe that she will become a truly great huntress._

 _-Mark Nutt_

 _Headmaster of Shield Academy_

 _Quiet and earnest? Nonsense. That girl is a bundle of energy when she's around people whom she is comfortable with._ Perhaps that was due to the small amount of friends the girl _did_ have who were thankfully going to Beacon. She sympathized with Elyana though, as she knew the girl was forced to keep much of herself secret, which prevented many real relationships from forming. Hell, the only reason she had those friends in the first place is because she had to reveal her true abilities.

 _What was it Ozpin had said? Oh yes:_

Glynda sighed as she recalled her boss' words while she quickly signed and approved all the necessary documents for the two girls.

 _This year should prove to be...interesting._

* * *

 _ **Ruby's POV**_

"Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" squealed Yang, folding Ruby into a crushing hug.

"Please let go." groaned Ruby. Her sister's breasts were currently cutting all air off.

"What's the matter with you?!" demanded Yang, though she quickly released Ruby, "Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited!" snapped Ruby, until she looked towards the floor downcast, "It's just...everyone is going to think I'm weird..."

"Are you kidding me?" said Yang incredulously, "Everyone's going to think you're the _bee's knees_!"

"But I don't want that! I just want to be a normal, regular knee'ed girl!" said Ruby in exasperation. Her sister tilted her chin up and looked at her with a tender gaze filled with love.

"You _are_ special, Ruby. Things will be great, you'll see." assured Yang.

Ruby smiled bashfully, "Thanks Yang."

Yang ruffled her hair in that way she knew Ruby hated, "Anytime, sis."

Ruby scowled as she attempted to re-arrange her hair back to it's normal position, looking around the ship curiously at the other students.

"BLEARGH!" A boy with blonde hair was busy vomiting quite violently into a trash can. Several other students were already backing away from him. Most students were like her and Yang, in small groups of two or three, chatting quietly to each other.

There was one odd place on the ship however, where a girl wearing a large sun-hat in a white one-piece dress stood by herself leaning against the rails and staring into the distance. Hugging her waist was a brown belt with two holsters for what Ruby presumed to be her weapons. Many students were looking at her curiously and when Ruby had finished ogling the girl's weapons, she soon discovered why.

Long, elfin-ears stuck out from the brown hair that cascaded down the girl's back and when she turned to the side at something that caught her interest, Ruby was a little stunned at how beautiful the girl was. She pulled on the hood of her robe to bury her face anxiously when she noticed this fact.

Yang gave a low whistle, "Damn. I forgot that she'd be attending as well." Yang said quietly, which was crazy because Yang was _never_ quiet.

"Who is she?" asked Ruby curiously.

"Elyana Something or other." said Yang cheerfully, "Forgot her last name, to be honest. Good time as any, I suppose to get to know her better."

And Yang _being_ Yang was of course dragging a very reluctant Ruby along to be introduced to the stunningly, gorgeous girl. The girl in question turned with a curious look as Yang with Ruby in tow, wandered over cheerfully.

"Hello, Elyana! Remember me?" said Yang easily, a competitive glint was in her eyes.

The girl nodded slowly and said, "Yang Xiao Long. You were one of the better fighters." She turned towards Ruby who froze underneath that pointed emerald gaze.

"Um-um-I'm uh, Yang's sister. Well half-sister actually, kind of a long story, really and I'm here at Beacon a little early. You're probably wondering why I'm here in the first place, right? Of course you are, I mean look at you and look at me – Ow!" babbled Ruby before Yang cuffed her on the head.

"Just tell her your name." said Yang with a gentle laugh.

"H-hello. I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose." she introduced herself hesitantly only to get a little dreamy when the girl gave a faint smile with a laugh that had a blush crawling over everyone's cheeks.

"Elyana Neverwinter." said the girl politely, "It's nice to meet you, Ruby."

Ruby smiled back, "It's nice to meet you too!" All of the anxiety she had was quickly fading when she realized that this girl wasn't as intimidating as she thought. Now she could get an answer to a more immediate question, "How do you know my sister? Um, if you don't mind me asking that is."

 _She's still a_ little _intimidating._

"We fought each other a few times during the Vale Primary Tournament. Your sister was among the most skilled of my opponents."

Yang snorted, "Meaning that I only lasted a few minutes longer than everyone else."

"Your semblance did catch me off guard the first time." reminded Elyana with a smile.

"Emphasis on the _first_ time." Yang rolled her eyes before she gave a fierce grin, "I'm a lot better than I was before, so don't think I'm the same person!"

"Wouldn't dream of it." said Elyana coolly. She looked at Ruby with a smile, "I have to say, your sister must be very talented if she's already attending Beacon."

Ruby blushed as Yang squeezed her with obvious affection and pride, "She's one of a kind!"

She hastily waved her hand at Yang's words, "No, I'm no one special! I just happened to stop a robbery taking place and met with the headmaster afterwards who offered me a place to join."

"Ruby..." groaned Yang.

"What! It's true!" squawked Ruby.

"Don't sell yourself short, Ruby. I'm sure you have many wonderful points that will allow you to fit in just fine at Beacon." said Elyana.

Ruby looked wide-eyed at her, "Do – do you really think so?"

Elyana smiled, "As long as you keep trying your best, you'll be okay." Ruby blushed as she turned back towards the railing, "Looks like we're almost there too."

* * *

 _ **Elyana's POV**_

Elyana had to admit that she was impressed when she saw the full grandeur of Beacon. The sweeping and graceful architecture was both massive and elegant in design and put any other buildings that she had seen in her life to shame.

 _Now let's see if the curtains match the drapes._ She would've vocalized that thought if her dad was here, who'd probably give a high-five like usual over the ribald joke.

She frowned at the thought that he was away on _another_ long-term mission _again_. Hopefully this time would be different though, as she had practically threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't stay in contact with her at least once a week.

She looked at the stream of students that flowed around her, some that would occasionally sneak a look or two back over their shoulders, but none otherwise approached her. Elyana sighed inwardly to herself at the typical actions and started looking for Alora and Cobalt in the throngs of people that were flooding the entrance.

"Looking for someone?" asked Ruby. Elyana's lips quirked in a smile as she looked down at the cute girl with silver eyes.

"My friends." said Elyana simply.

"O-oh. Right, well maybe we could look for them together?" said Ruby hopefully.

Elyana chuckled, "I don't mind, but I promised them that I'd wait outside the gates for them. You might want to enter the grounds and explore."

Yang chose that moment to squeeze in between the two of them, "Yeah, Ruby! Go ahead and talk to some new people!"

Ruby awkwardly smoothed out her dress, "I mean...I already met Elyana. She's new."

Elyana had a brief flash of sympathy for Ruby. She knew as well as anyone that it could be hard to make new friends, though she felt Ruby would have an easier time than most. All she needed was a little push.

"Well now you're going to have to meet some people on your own, because I see my friends." said Yang bluntly, pushing Ruby off of the proverbial cliff.

"Wha – Yang, wait!" A crowd of people swept through their position and carried Yang with them, leaving Ruby spinning in place with a dizzy expression. Elyana watched the comedic scene with faint amusement, before taking pity upon the poor girl and pulling her out of the way of someone who was carrying what seemed to be a lot of luggage. Unfortunately, a few cases were slightly jostled out of place and one fell onto the ground with a poof of blue dust billowing out from it and slightly freezing the ground.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" shouted a bossy voice.

Elyana turned after steadying Ruby on her feet and turned to see a white-haired girl in a matching ensemble anxiously looking over her luggage. "It was an accident." said Elyana quietly.

"Uuuu, I'm sorry. Was anything damaged?" apologized Ruby quickly.

"Do you have any idea what I'm carrying inside of these cases?!" said the girl shrilly, clearly not accepting their apologies. She stood up with a haughty expression and angrily looked at Ruby who cowered underneath her glare before turning to look at Elyana. The second they made eye contact, the girl lost any traces of anger as shock widened her eyes.

 _Because of my appearance or is it because of..._

"You're – you're..."

 _Reputation it is. Might as well help out Ruby with it, then._

"Elyana Neverwinter." she said politely. She placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "This is my friend, Ruby." emphasizing the word friend. Ruby looked shyly at her and smiled before turning to Weiss.

"Er, hello there! My name's Ruby Rose. Again, I'm really, really sorry for bumping into you!"

The girl seemed taken aback by Elyana's declaration of Ruby being her friend, before hastily rearranging her features as she gave Elyana a polite curtsey, "Apology accepted." said the girl curtly to Ruby, before turning to Elyana with a wide smile, "My name is -"

"Weiss Schnee." drawled a cool voice. The trio turned to see a pale-skinned girl with long black curly hair striding towards them with a casual grace. "Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy-based propellant in the entire world."

Weiss seemed very pleased at someone knowing this information and she gave the newcomer a smug smile, "Thank you. It's nice to get some recognition -"

The girl cut her off with a smirk, "The _same_ company infamous for it's controversial labour forces and questionable business partners."

Weiss reeled back as if she had been slapped, "Wha - How _dare_ you!"

Of course, that was when Ruby chose to giggle at Weiss' sudden predicament, who turned an angry glare on the poor girl. She seemed to remember Elyana's words about Ruby being her friend before looking guiltily towards her. "It's...been a pleasure meeting you, Elyana. I hope we get to see more of each other during our time here at Beacon."

Weiss hastily grabbed the rest of her luggage before darting away towards the school. Two men dressed in expensive suits and carrying luggage with the same logo as Weiss were meekly following after her.

 _Well. That was odd._

"Soooo, what's your name - ?" Elyana heard the voice of Ruby, only to see her looking wearing a crestfallen expression as she stared at the back of the black-haired girl who was walking away. Ruby slumped to the ground with a sigh, softly muttering to herself:

"...Welcome to Beacon..."

Elyana gave the girl a minute to herself before deciding to help her up when a blonde boy beat her to the punch. He was dressed in an old-fashioned set of armour guarding his torso with a longsword and shield strapped to his waist and wrist respectively. The old-school appearance of the boy's weapons gave Elyana a strong feeling of nostalgia.

"Hey. I'm Jaune." greeted the boy, holding out a hand towards Ruby.

"...Ruby." said the girl shyly with a smile. She took the proffered hand and allowed herself to be pulled up. Ruby's nose wrinkled in distaste as she backed away from Jaune with a smirk, "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

Jaune sputtered as Elyana snorted at how blunt Ruby was. Jaune turned wide-eyed, only seeming to notice Elyana's presence then and he looked suitably embarrassed that she was laughing at his expense.

"J-just so you know, motion sickness is a VERY common illness!" explained Jaune hastily. Ruby giggled at the floundering Jaune who shot her a stern glare that only served to make the girl laugh even more.

"Ah." Elyana finally spotted her two friends just over Jaune's shoulder.

"Something the matter, Elyana?" asked a concerned Ruby.

"Found who I was looking for." Elyana waved towards the pair which caught the attention of the smaller figure who started waving energetically back towards her and was pulling along her companion.

The one who was currently dashing towards the group with outstretched arms was a girl with shoulder-length pink air who had two forelocks arching out away from her air and curving back inwards in the rough shape of a heart to frame her face. Her curvy figure was put on display by the tight blue qipao she wore that was emblazoned with pink flowers in full bloom and the skinny black pants guarding her lower body. Buckled to her left leg was a strap for a silver pistol, while the right side of her waist had a rapier ensconced in a blood-red sheath.

Her pink eyes blazed with excitement and she yelled out in a clear voice that was filled with glee, "ELY!"

Elyana stood with a bemused expression and opened her arms in preparation for the powerful flying hug her energetic friend was about to deliver. She choked back a laugh when Alora collided with something in mid-air and fell to the ground with a loud crash.

"Owww..." groaned Alora, "What did I even hit? Oh, hey Ely!" she said brightly from the ground.

"Uh, Alora? You might want to get off of her."

"Get off of who...?" trailed off Alora as she realized she was straddling a girl with short blonde hair that partially obscured her face and was staring at Alora with wide, fearful eyes. Alora hastily jumped off and quickly pulled the girl to her feet, "Omigosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't even _see_ you!"

The girl seemed to shrink into herself at being the focus of so much attention and said in a small voice, "I-it's okay...fault...anyway."

Alora looked mortified, "Really, I'm sorry! Are you hurt anywhere?"

The girl was sporting a dark yellow blouse together with a black skirt and matching leggings; giving her the same color scheme as a bumblebee. A long metallic naginata greater than the girl's height stuck out from behind her which had Ruby gushing with curiosity. She shook her head quickly and blushed a deep shade of crimson, "My...fault...sorry..."

She quickly _vanished_ from sight, startling the rest of them as both Elyana and Cobalt (who had just caught up to Alora) managed to just hear soft footsteps quickly padding away.

Cobalt looked impressed, "Invisibility? That's a pretty cool semblance." Cobalt, along with Alora, were Elyana's two closest friends, whom she had met back in her second year at Shield. She considered them to be her closest friends as they knew her true secret; something which they swore to Elyana and Mael repeatedly that they'd never reveal.

Cobalt was a fox faunus stood a good few inches taller than Alora who was already over six feet tall. He had long black hair that reached the back of his neck and partially drifted over his golden eyes, that was arranged in spikes. Like usual, Cobalt was wearing his typical get-up of a black suit and tie that was worn loosely around a popped collar; looking like he'd be more at home at a club than in a school. Poking out from his back, were the gleaming white handles of his two longswords: _Bone Crushers_ , which were more aptly named than most people realized.

Cobalt's words seemed to have broke out Alora out of her daze as she turned towards him with a heated gaze. "Pretty cool?! PRETTY COOL?! IT'S INVISIBILITY, COBALT! THAT'S AWESOME!"

She turned comically on the spot, looking for the girl who had disappeared, "Excuse me! Miss? What you can do is awesome! Can we just talk for a bit?! Please!"

Cobalt shook his head at their friend's usual energetic antics and walked over to Elyana with a lazy smile, holding out his fist. "Hey, fearless leader."

Elyana laughed and bumped his fist, "Hey, yourself."

"Hey to both of you!" shouted Alora joyfully, gripping both of them in a tight group hug. She broke the embrace only to enfold Alora in a crushing solitary hug before pulling back with a wide smile, "Glad you could make it, fearless leader." she said cheekily.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." grinned Elyana.

"Er. Hello." said a meek voice. The reunited trio to see an awkwardly standing Ruby and Jaune.

"Oh! Hello! You two friends of Ely?" asked Alora cheerfully.

"W-well, I think Ruby here is. I just kind of met the two of them just now."

"Well no time like the present for a round of introductions." declared Alora. Elyana groaned at the implicating tone in her friend's voice and Cobalt simply chuckled good-naturedly. "...Team ACE Style!"

"...Team ACE?" repeated Ruby carefully.

"Positions!" ordered Alora as she dropped into her narrator voice.

Despite Alora calling Elyana the leader, she was often the one giving orders for stupid situations like this. Knowing that her friend would throw a small fit if they didn't quickly comply, Cobalt and her simply shrugged and took their places with Elyana in the middle and her two friends on her sides.

"A girl with the ability to freeze enemies in their tracks and _stop the clock_! Her blade pierces through the veil of injustice and tyranny!" proudly announced Alora, pulling out her rapier in an en-guard pose before splaying it to her side away from Elyana.

Elyana chuckled slightly at Ruby's gasp of awe as Alora displayed her weapon. It was a beautifully designed rapier that had a golden filigree tracing the hilt, which was subtly carved into the shape of an azalea, which at it's centre, the hint of an angled hidden gun barrel could be seen. Running down the length of the blade, was a separate gun chamber that opened just at the tip and made the body of the weapon look more like a thin lance.

"I am the first member: Alora Blossom!" declared Alora with a fierce grin.

"The greatest offence is said to be the strongest defence, but what do you call the man, who has both?!" continued Alora excitedly, "The second member, the _Unbreakable_!" Cobalt swept his arms to the side after pulling out one of his longswords. Once freed of it's sheath, one could appreciate the intricate carving of half a snarling wolf running along the length of steel blade. The weapon itself was unusually thick and appeared to be more similar to a heavy weapon than a one-handed blade.

"Cobalt Ashton." he introduced himself with a grin and faint blush.

"And finally! Our illustrious leader who is as mysterious as she is beautiful! As powerful as she is elegant! As kind as she is sexy! The _indomitable_ , the one, the only!"

Elyana rolled her eyes at the build-up but played along and pulled her Dark Duelists out with a flourish as Alora and Cobalt crossed their blades in front of her so that she was resting her pistols on the body of their blades. "Elyana Neverwinter." sighed Elyana with quirked lips.

"Together we fight to end the plans of those who would do harm to this world! To stop injustice from taking root in our society and destroying those who seek only to live in peace! We are:"

"""TEAM ACE!""" chorused all three of them together. The silly scene was soon dissolved as Ashton and Elyana started snickering with flushed cheeks, while Alora glared at them. Ruby and Jaune simply stared at them with baffled expressions that were quickly turning into wry smiles.

Soon they started laughing as well and Alora sheathed her weapon back in a flash and crossed her arms in a huff, "Hmph! Just wait until we graduate from Beacon! Everyone's going to be crazy about Team ACE by then!"

She was slightly mollified when Elyana draped her arms around her in a lazy hug, "Come on, Alora, let's get the next part out of the way before we're late for the opening assembly."

"Next part?" asked Jaune.

"Alora wants us to enter Beacon as a team, together." explained Cobalt. "Don't worry, you only have to bear with our insanity for a little longer."

Jaune and Ruby laughed as Alora perked up immediately and dragged her and Cobalt over to the massive gates of Beacon. She had a tight grip on both of their elbows and stared towards the large academy in front of her. She took a step and then hesitated.

Elyana's brows raised in surprise, "Nervous?"

"...a little." replied Alora.

Cobalt grinned, "Good thing you're not alone then, right?"

Elyana snorted, "That's an understatement. How early did she wake you up?"

"Eight o'clock."

"Oh, well that's not so ba-"

"Last night." grimaced Cobalt. "Said she was too excited, so she couldn't sleep."

Elyana looked balefully at her friend, "Try not to collapse when we go through the gates."

Alora grinned at both of them, "Keep a tight grip on me if I do then." She breathed in deeply, "Okay!"

The three friends took one step after another until they passed the threshold and let out a simultaneous sigh of relief, unlocking their elbows from each other as they did so. Alora turned to Elyana as Ruby and Jaune caught up, "Lead the way, Ely."

 _Uh, what?_

Alora's eyes narrowed, "You know...to the assembly?"

"Why would I know where that is?" replied Elyana smoothly.

Alora sputtered, "Why- You're our leader, that's why!"

Elyana shrugged and looked at Cobalt for help, "Sorry, no clue either."

"Ruby, Jaune? You know where the assembly is taking place?" The only reply she got were embarrassed looks. Elyana sighed, "Well at least we get a chance to explore the school this way."

"Oooh! As expected of our leader!" cheered Alora.

* * *

 _ **Ruby POV**_

"Whatcha doin, sis?" asked Yang, plopping onto her bedroll.

"Writing a letter for all my friends back at Signal." said Ruby simply.

"Awww, that's soo cuuuuuteee – geh!" Ruby threw a pillow at her face.

"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me like you did! It's _weird_ not knowing anyone here!" huffed Ruby.

"Aw, come on, you know Elyana at least. That's one new person! Oh! And Weiss!"

"I'm not sure if I'm friends with Elyana and her friends. I kind of felt like a third wheel and I'm pretty sure Weiss is a negative friend considering the way she treated me." sighed Ruby, putting down her pencil and burying her face in her pillow.

"No such thing as a negative friend! All that means is that you have one acquaintance and one enemy!" said Yang brightly. Ruby threw her last pillow at her sister.

"Well...what about Jaune. He's...nice." Jaune at that moment took the opportunity to walk by in a very unflattering onesie with bunny slippers. Yang put a hand on her shoulder and said comfortingly, "There's lots of people for you to make friends with here. You'll make some new ones eventually."

"Maybe..." she lifted her head up and saw the familiar figure of a black-haired girl with a bow in her hair, "That girl..."

"You know her?"

"No...but she helped get Weiss off my back when I bumped into her."

"Well, then, no time like the present to introduce yourself!" announced Yang, grabbing Ruby in that monstrously strong grip of hers and started to walk over to the girl.

"Ahhh, wait! What are you doing!"

* * *

 _ **Cobalt POV**_

 _Oh God, this is like a waking nightmare_

Cobalt clutched his bedroll to himself as his eyes darted anxiously from side to side. Beautiful women on the left. Voluptuous women on the right. Gorgeous women in front. Sexy women behind.

And then there's him, unable to even breathe right, considering they might look in his general direction. He felt an elbow nudge him in his ribs and sighed in relief as he looked at his childhood friend.

"Doing alright there, ladykiller?" grinned Alora mischievously.

 _Oh, haha, make fun of my inability to talk to women!_

"Better now that you're here." he said honestly, wondering why she started blushing. "Nice to have someone I don't react to like other women – grk!"

Alora punched him _hard_ in the gut and Cobalt sank to his knees, "Why...!" he croaked painfully as he watched his best friend stomp off angrily.

"You're an idiot." stated Elyana calmly, who was thumbing through a book on weapon maintenance. Cobalt forgot about the pain he was in temporarily as he averted his eyes from Elyana. He had somehow managed to get used to her (especially after the incident in their second year at Shield), but it was still hard for him to look at her sometimes.

She was wearing a long, white piece nightie with decorative frills on the collar, cuffs and hem and somehow looking even _more_ attractive than usual. She was also attracting a lot of attention from both males and females as usual.

"Why am I an idiot." spat Cobalt.

Not looking up from her book, Elyana gave him a curt reply, "Because you have to ask such a question."

Cobalt's eyes narrowed at his friend and then dropped his bedroll unceremoniously next to her. He shivered as he felt cold glares attack him from all around and turned to see that a number of people were glaring at him.

 _What did I do now?!_

He turned a pitiful gaze towards Elyana, giving her what Alora referred to as, his best 'Wounded Puppy Look'. Her emerald eyes gazed into his golden ones as she seemed to be having an internal debate with herself. Cobalt cheered inwardly as she crumbled under his mighty gaze and sighed.

"Cobalt, I've known you for only a few years now, and you have been and will always be like a _brother_ to me." said Elyana, stressing the 'brother' part quite loudly for some reason.

Whatever she did, it worked, as Cobalt immediately felt the bloodlust directed towards him get cut off and he sighed in relief. "Thanks for the save, sis."

She gave a faint smile and returned to her reading, "Anytime, bro."

* * *

 _ **Elyana POV**_

Standing on a cliff in front of a large, sweeping forest were several youths standing on metal platforms. In front of them, giving them a small lecture, was a silver haired man with a pair of a shaded glasses holding a cup of coffee loosely in one hand. Standing next to him was a blonde haired bespectacled woman who was dressed in a very form-fitting outfit with a purple cloak draped behind her.

"For years you have trained to become warriors." began Professor Ozpin. "And today, your abilities will be tested in the Emerald Forest below."

While many of the youths appeared to be listening seriously to his and Professor Goodwitch's words, who had just started talking about teams (much to the disappointment of Ruby), Elyana surveyed the forest below her with a bored expression.

Perhaps sensing her mood, a small blue creature sitting on her shoulder that went unnoticed by everyone except for her, nuzzled the side of Elyana's cheek affectionately. The creature appeared to be a small scaled female humanoid that was about the size of Elyana's thumb. Large blue fins extended up and through her blue hair where one would normally expect to find ears.

 _Honestly, what could be so hard about going through a forest filled with Grimm and getting some dumb artifacts back?_ Elyana scoffed inwardly to herself. Despite these thoughts of bravado, she patted her Dark Duelists strapped to her hips with a careful touch to make sure they were still there. Elyana was currently dressed in her combat attire: Mottled greenish-brown leather bodice with brown pants and long boots that revealed all of her curves.

Elyana had long since adapted to the strange technology of Remnant and had since come to value their pure destructive force. Even Mael had begrudgingly agreed that they were somewhat useful.

Her weapons were a combination of a dagger and a pistol, when free from their holsters, had a completely black appearance as if they were carved out of a chunk of dark metal. On closer inspection, one would find a very comfortable leather grip around one end of the daggers that acted as both the hilt and butt of a pistol. A dark metallic ring with a trigger could be seen just poking out of the sheath where the extremely sharp end of the dagger lay. Carved into the side of the abnormally thick blade, was the barrel for the pistol part of the weapon.

"Er. I have a question, sir." the blonde known as Jaune hesitantly asked the professor as the other students began to be launched off into the air. Elyana's eyes flicked over to him briefly, as they were the last in line. Jaune was...nice.

The naiad, Kaya, seemed to have caught on that they would be descending into the Grimm-filled forest and wrinkled her nose distastefully before vanishing inside of Elyana's body. Her spirits were always a bit on the quirky side, even in Eberron, for she had never heard of other spirit users having their spirits behave in such a manner.

"WOO HOOO!" Yang was sent sailing through the air as she screeched in pure joy. Yang and her little sister, Ruby, were both surprisingly nice people and Elyana wasn't _entirely_ averse to the idea of hanging out with them whenever Alora and Cobalt weren't around.

 _Hm. Didn't the professor say something about teams? Ah...whatever. I'll figure it out later._

"So...will we be getting parachutes or something?" asked Jaune hesitantly. Elyana frowned at the question. _He has to know what kind of place Beacon is, right?_

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy." replied Ozpin mildly.

Elyana gave a brief snort at the incredibly dry response which was immediately stifled as soon as professor Glynda directed a stern glare towards her. Elyana was thankful she didn't have to worry about being under that emerald gaze any longer when the platform underneath her feet activated and catapulted her high into the air.

A brief smile creased her features as she felt the wind blow past her face and the giddy joy that came from being so high up. As she watched, all of her future classmates (or potential ones, at least) were using their weapons to land in the forest below.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" A yellow blur went screaming by her, tumbling through the air like a rag doll.

Well, hopefully he'd work something out. He had gotten into Beacon for a reason after all.

Elyana flicked her Duelists out of their holsters with agile fingers and angled her body so that she would be diving into the treeline at a forty-five degree angle. She angled her dagger arms out at different sides at the ready, just as she braced through the green sea.

Using her naturally superior body, she slashed across the various trees to decrease her momentum bit by bit. The crashing sounds of branches and even some smaller trees could be heard as she continued her arboreal destruction. Finally, her momentum had slowed to the point that as she passed through the gap between two particularly close trees, she sank her daggers fully into the bark.

Elyana transferred the remaining energy of her fall into a swing that transformed into a backflip as she pulled her Duelists out of the trees in one smooth motion before falling lightly onto the ground.

Elyana turned back to see the results of her 'landing strategy' and smirked, "Good thing I didn't make any contracts with forest spirits."

Her scroll buzzed in her pockets and she flipped the device out to read the message. It was from Ozpin: _"Please try and remember to ONLY use your semblance."_

The smile faded from her face as she recalled the forests in that other world, where she'd normally see the trees ablaze with little flashes of lights as spirits danced to-and-fro around her while she laughed and danced with them. In Remnant, such a thing was rare and a luxury to be treasured thanks to the _disgusting_ creatures of Grimm.

She shook her head free of the depressing thoughts and started to run through the forest towards the supposed goal of this entrance exam. A black claw shot out from the foliage, only to meet thin air as Elyana was already up in the air, descending on the beowulf.

"Really?" snorted Elyana coldly, her Duelists were out of their holsters as she spun lightly in the air to sever the Grimm's arm. The monster roared angrily, it's demonic red eyes gleaming with hatred as it lunged with an open maw towards her with surprising agility that would've caught most huntresses-in-training off guard.

But she had been trained personally by one of the Six. She was anything _but_ ordinary.

Elyana tilted her body back quickly and slammed one of her Duelist's blades through the chin of the beowulf's reeking mouth, pulling the trigger as she felt her weapon pierce flesh.

The monster jerked once and then fell to the ground dead, it's body already beginning to fade away into pitch-black smoke. Elyana spat on the ground where the monster had lain and continued to quickly make her way through the forest.

Straight into the rest of the beowulf pack.

Thirty eight pairs of blood-red eyes behind white masks turned in unison to glare at her.

"Hm. I bet you guys are wondering where your buddy disappeared to, huh?" asked Elyana nonchalantly.

They started growling.

Elyana sighed theatrically, "Thought so." She waved towards where she spotted a camera in one of the trees, "Do you mind saving this, professors? I wanna give a copy to dad, later."

One beowulf broke out from the pack, eager to devour her, only to be stopped point blank as the blade of her Duelist pierced the beast's skull.

"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a lady?" she said coldly, pulling the trigger and causing the beowulf's head to explode.

That shot proved to be the spark for the rest of the Grimm to start attacking her en-masse. Elyana leapt backwards with both her weapons arranged out in front of her as she pulled the triggers again and again.

 _ **Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!**_

With every shot, another beowulf would die and evaporate into noxious fumes a few seconds later. Elyana ducked under one of the creature's swipes, stabbing into it's chest and his friend at the same time before pulling the trigger. Moving fluidly through the crowd, she blocked or dodged every swipe, lunge or charge that the beowulves were throwing at her.

Often she would make the creatures crash into each other to add into the chaos as she would occasionally dive into the middle of a crowd, cause some chaos, and then leap back out. It was almost going _too_ well, considering how unorganized these Grimm were, so she had to wonder -

Elyana swiftly brought up both her weapons in a block as she was smacked away by a titanic force, crashing through several trees.

 _Ow. Nothing broken, but that's going to bruise like hell tomorrow._

She glared at the alpha who was charging towards her downed position with the rest of his pack. "Lucky shot." spat Elyana.

She crouched and leapt high up into the air as she fired down onto the beowulf pack who were alternately leaping after her (like the Alpha and some of his comrades) or were climbing other trees to get to her. Elyana landed lightly on a branch before kicking off of it again, using it only for a brief moment as the alpha made a mighty swipe; snarling as it's quarry escaped him once again.

Elyana kept at least one of her guns trained on the alpha at all times to keep him at bay, while she either killed the beowulves who attacked her or kicked them off of the tree. She started to run between the treeline, leaping off of branches as agile as a squirrel might with the alpha beowulf hot on her heels.

Elyana figured that she'd lead him into a trap rather than activate her valence ( _because that would just be boring!_ ) when she spotted a familiar mop of pink hair. She grinned as she angled slightly away from her position and called out.

"Big guy right behind me, flying high! Passing by for intersection in 3...2..." yelled Elyana. She turned on cue to watch the alpha beowulf get completely blindsided by Alora who had charged up from below and skewered him on the end of her _Phantom Blade_ , pressing the first trigger on her blade as it made contact with flesh.

 _ **BANG!**_

A high-impact bullet was discharged from the hilt of her weapon and gave it an extra amount of thrust to pierce even deeper into the Grimm. Alora was far from over yet, as she pulled a secondary trigger for the barrel on the end of her blade to quickly jettison her weapon out of the creature's flesh for another thrust.

The duo of huntress-in-training and Grimm were sailing through the air as Alora went through a series of blindingly-fast thrusts and lunges towards the alpha who was most certainly dead at this point. Elyana for her part, finished mopping up the rest of the beowulves who were chasing after her and were now leaderless with a sadistic grin on her face.

Coincidentally, the last beowulf fell just as the alpha dissolved into smoke and Alora began a free-fall through the air, angling herself so that she would land near Elyana. She rolled her eyes and stowed her weapons before grabbing Alora's outstretched hand and pulling her onto a thick branch with a twirl.

"Heya, partner." giggled Alora.

"Hey, yourself." grinned Elyana, "You see Cobalt, anywhere?"

Alora shook her head, "Nah, you?"

"Nope. Think he ran into anyone, yet?"

"Uh, I don't think so. Does it matter?"

Alora sighed, "You weren't listening to what the professor was saying about teams, were you?"

"Nope." replied Elyana instantly.

 _Back on the cliff, Ozpin snorted into his coffee as a throbbing vein appeared on Glynda's forehead._

"Typical. You really need to learn to stop spacing out like that." chided Alora.

Elyana was suitably abashed, "Sorry...still a work-in-progress." She looked up at Alora hopefully, "So what was this about teams?..."

Alora frowned and gave a bitter smile, "You're lucky your so cute."

"I know." said Elyana smugly.

"Come on, I'll talk about it on the way while we try to find this temple. Hopefully we run into Cobalt."

The two continued their journey through the trees, not bothering to return to the ground as they were both suitably confident in their dexterity. "Think he ran into anyone yet?" asked Elyana with a teasing smile.

"Like a girl? God I hope so, I'd love to see the look on his face." cackled Alora.


End file.
